Public Page - Christoph Opitz

Member Bio:

Christoph Opitz studied Architecture at TU Wien. He worked as a senior designer and project leader at Chalabi Architekten & Partner on projects in Europe and the UAE. In 2018 he finished the MSc in Architecture program at Virginia Tech and worked on his thesis research on Photovoltaic Energy monitoring and lighting design.

BIOGRAPHY

Christoph Opitz studied Architecture at Vienna University of Technology and graduated with a Master’s degree in 2007. After his studies, he went on to become a senior designer and project leader at Chalabi Architects & Partners of Vienna working on projects in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. Christoph worked at Chalabi Architects & Partners in Vienna, Austria until 2015 when he moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. Shortly after arriving in Blacksburg Christoph was admitted to the MSc in Architecture program at Virginia Tech. He started his studies in the Building Science Concentration of the program and worked on his thesis research on Photovoltaic Energy monitoring and lighting design. From August 2015 to May 2017, Christoph held a position as a graduate research assistant at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies doing research on mobile classroom design in the USA and concepts of prefabricated housing units for Saudi Arabia. In June 2017 Christoph became a member of the FutureHAUS Dubai design team which developed a net-positive energy house to represent Virginia Tech and compete at the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 in Dubai. Christoph has local experience from his time as a design team leader and member of the site supervision team for the Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Center in Al Ain, UAE. This and his research experience on photovoltaic technology at Virginia Tech helped Christoph with his new task performing photovoltaic energy simulations for the FutureHAUS Dubai.

In addition to his studies and research at Virginia Tech, Christoph enjoyed being a bus operator at Blacksburg Transit from 2015 to 2018. In May 2018 Christoph graduated from Virginia Tech and continued to work for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies as an adjunct researcher until September 2018. He received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Student King Medal from the American Research Center Consortium for his Master’s thesis research in the same year.

During the summer 2018 Christoph worked on building the FutureHAUS prototype and helped assembling and operating it in the UAE during the competition in November 2018. The FutureHAUS Dubai won the Solar Decathlon Middle East overall first prize.